MLL Notes: Hounds' Face-Off Woes

There are lots of firsts for an expansion team. This week, it's the first second-chance for the Charlotte Hounds, as they have a rematch with the Boston Cannons at 7 p.m. Saturday.

The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.

“For us, it's our first time getting a second look at someone,” Charlotte coach Mike Cerino said. “We want to make strides to improve and grow from there.”

For the Hounds, that change starts with some roster changes and a concerted effort to boost their face-off production. Charlotte is last in the league with a .362 face-off percentage and has not been able to find a reliable person in that rotation.

“We're trying to do everything we can to solve our face-off issues. You give teams in this league 10, 12, 15 extra possessions, you're going to get some pretty lopsided scores,” Cerino said. “The fact that we were in some one-goal games when we're facing off at a 30% clip is a testament to how hard the guys are battling, because we are literally giving up 10-12 more possessions per game.”

Charlotte picked up James Carroll, a FOGO who played at Colgate in 2011 and didn't spend steady time on a roster last season. Also on Thursday, the team picked up Delaware graduate Dan Cooney from the player pool.

Face-off woes have slowed down the offense, causing the Hounds to tighten up too much in transition because the few possessions they have are too valuable. In last week's 15-7 loss against Chesapeake, Charlotte was 7-26 on face-offs, with Corey Bulken taking nearly all of the draws. The team had only 20 shots on goal. Bulken was waived this week.

Also this week, Charlotte acquired midfielder Gerry Reilly and Kevin Kaminski in a trade with Chesapeake. The Hounds waived Chris Unterstein, Devan Spilker and Ryan Hurley. They picked up defender Kevin Ridgway from Ohio, and they also added Lehigh's Cameron Lao-Gosney.

“We're trying to get a little younger, a little bigger, trying to get a little faster on the midfield,” Cerino said.

Star player Matt Danowski's health has improved, Cerino said, as the star was nursing injuries from the indoor season in the early parts of the MLL year. Adam Ghitelman, who has played excellent in relief all year, should get the start with Mark Manos playing backup.

Turnovers still hurting Cannons

Coach Steve Duffy was blunt in his assessment of the Cannons' loss against the Long Island Lizards.

“There wasn't much that I liked about the game on the field,” he said.

It's the same problem that plagued the Cannons in a 17-16 loss against Rochester the week prior.

“The guys have so much confidence in everyone around them and so much confidence in everyone their throwing it to, and at times with some of the guys we have that's got to be in check,” Duffy said.

There will be a new face in the lineup this week after Boston traded Brad Ross to Rochester for Martin Cahill. Cahill has struggled thus far in 2012, shooting 0-30, but Duffy thinks he can find his stride in Boston.

“He's good in a shortstick matchup. I don't think Marty's gotten a lot of shortstick matchups this year in his games up in Rochester,” Duffy said. “I think when he comes to our team he's going to have more opportunities to get shortstick matchups.”

Between Cahill, Mike Stone, Bill McGlone and Owen Smith, the hot hands will be paired on Paul Rabil's line at midfield.

Pulling double-duty

Cody Jamieson and Stephen Keogh played in two games Saturday. First, they played in a 1 p.m. Major Series Lacrosse game for Six Nations, followed by their 7 p.m. 17-8 win against the Rochester Rattlers.

It didn't slow them down: The pair combined for eight points in the Hamilton win.

Keogh has seven goals and three assists in his two games played, forming a chemistry with indoor teammates Jamieson and Joe Walters.

“A lot of teams think they can put a short on Stephen Keogh inside, but it's easier said than done,” Coach Regy Thorpe said. “It's kind of like Matt Poskay, you try to short him but it's tough to do. Hopefully teams will keep shorting him.”

In Hamilton's 20-7 loss at Chesapeake earlier in the season, the trio of Walters, Keogh and Jamieson was not yet on the roster because of other lacrosse commitments. They'll have a vastly different lineup this time around when they visit Chesapeake on Saturday night.

“It's no excuses, but if you can't put the best product on the floor sometimes you're results aren't there,” Thorpe said.

Casey Powell, a 2012 all-star, did not play last weekend because of another commitment. Thorpe said it was too early to say if Powell would be in the lineup Saturday.

No goalie controversy in Chesapeake

It's an ever-expanding corps of goalies in Chesapeake, but not having one “top guy” at this point of the season doesn't concern coach Dave Cottle.

Mike Gabel, Kip Turner, TC DiBartolo and Joey Kemp (On Friday, Kemp — who has limited availability this summer — was moved to the practice squad, which means he's vulnerable to be picked up by another team) are all on the roster. Collegiate Draft pick Tyler Fiorito (Princeton) will practice Friday. Cottle said the team will make a decision on Friday which goalie will play.

“I'm not choosing a goalie; they're choosing a goalie. Whoever plays better that week and whoever is committed to be there all the time will be the guy who will win the position.” Cottle said. “We've got good goalies. Whichever one we play we're sure to have a good game out of. That doesn't really concern me. I'm not really worried about settling on one goalie.”

The aren't many roster spots up in the air this week, but whoever gets the last crack in the roster will be whoever can help Chesapeake between the lines against Hamilton.

“We've got a tough decision to make because Hamilton plays two polls up. So many guys are really good between the lines. We're down to one position about who's going to dress this weekend, and practice will have a lot to say about that,” Cottle said.

Long Island's defensive revolution

Much of the talk about Long Island has been regarding its attack, which has evolved much quicker than anyone predicted.

But after early-season losses — and a drubbing at the hands of Denver — Long Island made big changes with its defensive group that have led to improvement on both sides of the field.

A central figure in those changes has been Brian Karalunas, the reigning Defensive Player of the Week. He was moved back to close defense after the Denver game and has since handled matchups with Charlotte's Billy Bitter (0G, 0A), Ohio's Chazz Woodson (2, 1) and Boston's Ryan Boyle (0, 0)

“I think our approach needed to change,” coach Joe Spallina said, referring to the Week 2 loss against Denver. “When we left there, I felt like we needed two poles. And that's difficult to do in this league.”

The team acquired CJ Costabile and Tim Henderson in the weeks after. Mike Skudin, Chris Passavia and Parker McKee will continue to handle the other two close spots besides Karalunas by committee. Spallina called Skudin a “sandpaper guy,” which shows by how he earned his lineup spot.

Skudin was picked up by Long Island in the Supplemental Draft and almost was cut before the season started. In a preseason scrimmage against Charlotte, the teams played an extra 15 minutes, in which the Lizards emptied their bench. “He made play after play after play, so we put him on practice squad,” Spallina said.

Spallina told him in an early-season practice that Skudin was close to entering the lineup. “Show us something tonight,” Spallina recalled telling Skudin. That practice, he put Stephen Peyser on his back. The next play, Peyser went right after him.

“(Skudin) was slashing him and yelling at him — and this was in practice,” Spallina said. “If we're going to go down, I want to go down with a guy like that.”

Injury bug subsiding in Denver

Peet Poillon will be back after suffering an injury. But the biggest boost could be having Chris Mattis back on face-offs for when the Outlaws play Rochester this weekend. The game against Rochester will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network at 9:30 p.m., part of an MLL doubleheader.

Mattis has been injured, and was ready to play last week but could not get into the lineup in time. Denver has a .467 face-off percentage; Rochester will be the first team the Outlaws play this season with a worse face-off percentage.

“To be able to go in and honestly, to be able to split, that would be huge boost for us considering where we've been the last few weekends,” Stagnitta said.

Rochester going offense-heavy

The Rochester Rattlers have struggled to generate offense, owning the league's worst numbers in shots and shots on goal. Their leading points-scorer, Ned Crotty, is tied for 17th in the league among five other players with 14 points.

The Outlaws plan on matching defenseman Lee Zink against Crotty in their game this weekend.

The Rattlers traded Cahill to the Boston Cannons for Brad Ross. Kevin Leveille has been activated from Injured Reserve. Also this week, in an effort to boost offense, they will be dressing Dan Hardy.

“We've made some changes this week, and hopefully that will help generate a little offense for us,” coach Tim Soudan said. “(Dan Hardy) struggled in first couple of games, but he has that great ability to break guys down.”

No 'Superman' for Ohio

The highly-anticipated debut of Steele Stanwick will be this weekend, as the Ohio Machine host the Long Island Lizards.

Coach Ted Garber is taking the pressure off the college standout and not expecting him to do everything all at once.

“You don't have to be the best player, just do what you do best,” Garber said. “I told the guys Superman is not arriving to save the day.”

He will be with Chazz Woodson and Jim Connolly on attack.

“I think having Steele back there and Woody and Connolly able to work off ball a little more that will open up some things for them and our middies as well,” Garber said. “Steele's got great vision and if guys are open he's going to give them the ball.”

At the other end of the field, Brian Phipps has a torn ligament in his thumb but says he will be OK and ready to play if needed. Starting duties will be between him and Stefan Schroder.

Quote of the week

Chesapeake coach Dave Cottle on his defensive group, which includes Nicky Polanco and Brian Spallina: “I know we've got angry guys. They take being scored on personally.”

For more on which rookies will be making their debut this week, check out Zach Babo's weekly rookie report on Friday.